Curtis Marsh, j’92, is director of KU Info and thus prepared to espouse a life’s worth of knowledge about the KU experience.

He shared his life’s lessons in a recent presentation at the Kansas Union in a room crowded with KU students, colleagues, alumni and friends. The Last Lecture Series, sponsored by the KU Office of Multicultural Affairs, invites campus figures to impart lasting words of wisdom. The program is patterned after the Last Lecture popularized by Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, which was viewed by millions online, and later made into a best selling book.

Marsh is well known on campus as an authority on all things KU (he even contributed a story for this blog on the tradition of students camping for seats at Allen Fieldhouse). In his talk, titled “If only I’d been a better juggler — and had more pb&j …and other silly metaphors,” Marsh shared his sense of humor, balanced with perspective, and of course, a few facts from the archives of KU Info.

In addition to sharing quotations courtesy of Albus Dumbledore, delivered in a dead-on impression of Richard Harris’s character from Harry Potter, attendees learned that it would take approximately 6.4 trillion Allen Fieldhouses to fit inside the world’s oceans (yes, that was a KU Info question). Marsh noted that while many of questions fielded by his team of KU Info “superstars” ranged from silly to serious, finding the right answer always involves finding the right perspective. Someone who seems lost is more easily set on the right path once you know where they are coming from, Marsh told the audience. Such lessons kept the audience amused, inspired and certainly entertained.

At one point Marsh even showcased his juggling talent while making a point about finding balance in life and your career. Taking on more responsibilities, he explained, while (literally) keeping all of the balls in the air, sometimes means doing things an entirely different way. The result has something to do with PB&J, which he finally revealed is more than sandwich. The mnemonic device is meant to remind us that perspective, balance and juggling are life lessons worth remembering.

Don’t take my word for it. Mr. Marsh demonstrates how to juggle your responsibilities in this short video below.